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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Author Of The Month - JP Barnaby - Finale

Welcome to our Grand Finale of celebrating

Today's celebration will start off with a list of her favorite things, a glimpse into her charity work, and then a highlight of some other fabulous books JP has written that we haven't featured yet. Oh, and there's of course going to be another chance at winning down at the end.

I don’t do charity work—that implies something noble and self-sacrificing. Instead, I simply help where I can. When I see LGBT kids who are alone and scared, I’ll try to friend them on Facebook and talk to them. For example, a friend sent me the YouTube video of a boy crying as he talked about how scared he was to come out. I found him on Facebook, friended him, and sent a message to let him know we were here. I am a card-carrying, flag-waving member of that acronym and we take care of our own. No one should ever feel scared to be who they are, especially this guy. I watched his posts—he’s beautiful, sweet, and funny. I friend the kids who reach out to me as Jamie Mayfield looking for someone to help them not feel so alone. I remember that feeling so damn clearly.

My other commitment that I guess would qualify as charity work is that Dreamspinner donates the royalties from my Jamie Mayfield line to the gay homeless youth charity Lost ‘N Found Youth in Atlanta. I’m contracted to not receive royalties and they go straight to the organization (so they don’t kill my taxes). I got involved with that organization through the owner of Brushstrokes bookstore in Atlanta. At first, it was just donating things for them to raffle or auction, but when we decided to transition the Little Boy Lost series and Aaron to YA—I wanted to do more. They literally take kids that people have thrown away for being gay and help them get back on their feet. Imagine your teenager alone and scared on the streets of Atlanta—wouldn’t you want someone to help them?

Around Christmas, I wanted to send a Kindle Fire or two to these kids. I asked Elizabeth North, the head of Dreamspinner Press, if she could donate some eBooks to fill it with. Well, as anyone who knows Elizabeth can guess—she doesn’t do small—she took that idea and ran with it. Not only did Dreamspinner send a Kindle Fire for each center resident, they also collected monetary donations from people in our genre (partnering with Bold Strokes books for f/f titles) and sent a huge LGBT-centric library for their youth center.

How can you get involved?

Start small –

1. MOST IMPORTANT – vote. Vote for gay-friendly legislation. Tell your friends to vote for it. Get involved in the marriage equality fight.
2. Use smile.amazon.com for your amazon purchases and configure it to send the donation to a gay-friendly organization. Mine is set to Lost ‘N Found Youth (search for it, it’s there).
3. If you see a kid in your life struggling, take them under your wing. Take them to Starbucks for a coffee and see what’s going on with them. Suicide is a scary number among teens, especially among gay kids.

A few more things—

1. Donate to a local charity—there are LGBT charities in most cities. Just google them. Lost ‘N Found Youth has a recurring PayPal option. $10/month can go a long way toward getting a kid a bus pass to get to work or school.
2. Go to Pride – show your support.
3. When you go to Pride, give out safe sex kits/condoms.
4. Join your local PFlag chapter.
5. Volunteer at an LGBT Center.
6. Build a library at your local PFlag chapter.
7. Do a marriage equality charity walk.
8. Teach your kids to love.
9. Speak up. When you hear statements you don’t agree with – say something.

And now for a few more of JP's books:

Blurb:

Josh, a young gay submissive with a strong desire to serve, is searching for the Master of his dreams. After being released by yet another Dom, he takes the advice of his trainer and leaves Chicago to accept the invitation of a Montana rancher—a real, live, modern-day cowboy. With his new Master, Wade Mallory, Josh may just find what he's looking for... and more.

Buy it:

Blurb:

Kyle Lang just got out of a marriage that lasted too goddamned long. He knew when he married her that he shouldn’t have. For the last few years, he’s been haunted by daydreams of the perfect feel of another man’s skin. The problem is, the bar scene isn’t working so well for him. When Kyle picks up Jesse, an eighteen-year-old illegal who turns tricks for cash, he finally finds something to scratch that desperate itch. For Jesse, who is only gay-for-pay to support his sister, it's the first time he’s ever been aroused by another man's touch. The consequences will change his whole world.

Buy it:

Blurb:

Jayden Carter knew the path he wanted his life to take. He wanted to get his Master’s Degree in History and teach. But when he answered an ad for a roommate and met mysterious doctor, Ethan Bryant, he’s brought into a world he never knew existed and his path changes.It changes again for Jayden and he leaves Ethan with their friend, Lexi, in tow. Ethan loses himself in a haze of self-destruction and pain. With the help of a childhood friend, Gabriel, Ethan battles the demons of his childhood and finds a way to survive. Gabriel and Jayden wage an epic war for Ethan, but in the end, they may all end up losing.Adapted from The Forbidden Room and A House of Cards: Deconstructing Ethan

Buy it:

Blurb:

Master Ethan has decided that his boy Jayden should have a nice traditional Christmas for the first time in their relationship. What would Christmas be without the perfect tree?

10 comments:

Thank you for sharing about your charity work? Things that we all can do to help , and all the book blurbs. It was a great post! I haven't read any of your books before, but this post made me run off to look at your books. :-)

I second Jen about you sharing your charity work. There isn't as much in the UK to aid LGBTQI in terms of charities but I do what I can. I've mentored high school kids and always made sure it was known that anyone could come to me to chat or talk. There's no PFLAG or anything on this side of the pond unfortunately. I'm lucky though, I came from an area, and still live there, where there is little bullying. None of my gay or lesbian friends were ever harassed at school, thank god. I do what I can anyway :)

I love to read interviews with JP and try to read every one I find. I often read how JP connects with people through the web and makes things happen. Finding that boy on facebook after watching the video, I'm not sure I would have had the knowledge how to go about what JP seems to do so easily. Can I say I admire her without sounding all creepy?

Real change starts at home. Thank you for sharing your heart and some tips for people to get them started supporting! So many people seem to think that they would like to help but don't know where or how so they never do. This was awesome!